{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,23]],"date-time":"2026-10-23T19:52:36Z","timestamp":1792785156000,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":0,"publisher":"Georg Thieme Verlag KG","funder":[{"name":"Fundaci\u00f3n de la Sociedad Espa\u00f1ola de Endoscopia Digestiva","award":["FSEED2023"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["FSEED2023"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01spyz863","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"crossref"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Endoscopy"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background and study aims\nExpired medical devices represent an environmental and economic concern, yet their magnitude and true shelf life remain poorly defined. \nWe aimed to quantify the volume and cost of expired endoscopic devices and evaluate their sterility and functionality beyond the labelled expiry date. \n\nMethods \nWe conducted an investigator-initiated, prospective study (December 2023-May 2025) across 25 endoscopy units from Europe, Canada, and the USA. Expired devices were inventoried during one-week audits. An institutional questionnaire assessed storage practices. Microbiological sterility and ex vivo functionality were assessed in randomly selected samples. Physicomechanical testing included matched case\u2013control comparison with non-expired counterparts.\n\nResults\nWe identified 1,448 expired devices (median per centre, 42; range 3-262), with an estimated cost of \u20ac192,141.67. Of these, 273 underwent microbiological testing, 210 ex vivo functional assessment, and 57 physicomechanical evaluation. No microorganism growth was detected in any evaluated device (100%, 95% CI 98.6-100). All but one overtube retained functionality (99.5%; 95% CI 97.4-99.9). Physicomechanical testing showed no clinically relevant differences compared with non-expired devices. Only six centres (24%) reported written protocols to minimise accumulation of expired accessories, and three (12%) had electronic tracking systems.\n\nConclusions\nExpired endoscopic consumables are frequent and costly, with suboptimal inventory management within endoscopy units. In this multicentre bench and ex vivo study, analysed devices preserved sterility and functional performance beyond their labelled expiry dates. These findings challenge current shelf-life assumptions and support further regulatory evaluation, but should not be interpreted as evidence supporting routine clinical use of expired devices.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1055\/a-2977-6099","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,9]],"date-time":"2026-10-09T23:44:01Z","timestamp":1791589441000},"source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Expired endoscopic devices remain sterile and functional: an international multicentre study challenging current shelf-life criteria"],"prefix":"10.1055","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2852-6042","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Enrique","family":"Rodriguez de Santiago","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hospital Universitario Ram\u00f3n y Cajal. Universidad de Alcal\u00e1. IRYCIS, Spain","place":["Madrid"],"department":["Gastroenterology and Hepatology"]},{"name":"Instituto Ram\u00f3n y Cajal de Investigaci\u00f3n Sanitaria (IRYCIS), Spain","place":["Madrid"],"department":["Instituto Ram\u00f3n y Cajal de Investigaci\u00f3n Sanitaria (IRYCIS"]},{"name":"Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Community of Madrid, Spain","place":["Madrid"],"department":["Centro de Investigaci\u00f3n Biom\u00e9dica en Red de Enfermedades Hep\u00e1ticas y Digestivas (CIBERehd)"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"David","family":"Villaescusa Arenas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hospital Universitario Ram\u00f3n y Cajal. Universidad de Alcal\u00e1. IRYCIS, Spain","place":["Madrid"],"department":["Gastroenterology and Hepatology"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Elia","family":"G\u00f3mez G de la Pedrosa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Universidad de Alcal\u00e1, Community of Madrid, Spain","place":["Alcala de Henares"],"department":["Universidad de Alcal\u00e1"]},{"name":"Hospital Universitario Ram\u00f3n y Cajal, Community of Madrid, Spain","place":["Madrid"],"department":["Microbiology Department"]},{"name":"Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Community of Madrid, Spain","place":["Madrid"],"department":["Centre for Biomedical Research in Network in Infectious Diseases (CIBERINFEC-CB21\/13\/00105)"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marina","family":"Garc\u00eda-Castellanos","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Universitat Politecnica de Valencia, Valencian Community, Spain","place":["Valencia"],"department":["Centre for Biomaterials and Tissue 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Gastroenterology"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6482-2375","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mathieu","family":"Pioche","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Edouard Herriot Hospital, France","place":["Lyon"],"department":["Service d'H\u00e9pato-gastro-ent\u00e9rologie et d'endoscopie digestive"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Marianna","family":"Arvanitakis","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Erasmus Hospital, Brussels, Belgium","place":["Brussels"],"department":["Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatopancreatology, and Digestive Oncology"]},{"name":"Universite Libre de Bruxelles Faculte des Sciences de la Motricite, Brussels, Belgium","place":["Brussels"],"department":["Research Unit in Cardio-Respiratory Physiology and Exercise 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Spain","place":["Barcelona"],"department":["Facultat de Medicina i Ci\u00e8ncies de la Salut"]},{"name":"Institut d\u2019Investigacions Biom\u00e8diques August Pi i Sunyer, Spain","place":["Barcelona"],"department":["IDIBAPS"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8579-9314","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andrei","family":"Voiosu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hospital Colentina, Romania","place":["Bucharest"],"department":["Gastroenterology Department"]},{"name":"Universitatea de Medicin\u0103 \u0219i Farmacie Carol Davila din Bucure\u0219ti, Romania","place":["Bucharest"],"department":["University of Medicine and Pharmacy"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Patricia","family":"Pedregal-Pascual","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hospital de la Santa Creu i Sant Pau, Spain","place":["Barcelona"],"department":["Endoscopy Unit, Gastroenterology 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